


Welcome Home

by denyingmyselfalways



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Everyone Is Alive, Fluff and Humor, Gen, I love all of them, Loki Is Not Evil, Peter is a Gen Z kid, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Thor coping, Thor is a cinnamon role, also Tony is basically Peter's dad, i love this fandom, infinity war fix-it, please don't argue with me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 22:41:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15616611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denyingmyselfalways/pseuds/denyingmyselfalways
Summary: Thor laughed bitterly. “We won the war, I suppose. But I lost everything.”“Your people?”“And my family. My...” Thor clenched his jaw, “brother.”Thor could practically hear the question before Peter had even asked it. “Wasn’t he evil?”He sighed. “Loki... was complicated. He had evil intentions at first, but they were motivated by a broken childhood and an infinity stone’s influence. That and Thanos tortured him. What he did... was not okay, but in the end... he was a hero.”or: Thor is coping with Loki's death not the greatest until someone shows up to help





	Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it? If there are any grammatical errors or something seems ooc, please let me know in the comments, but otherwise: enjoy!

It’s been two months since Thanos was defeated. The half of the universe had returned. Everyone was okay. Even the Guardians got Gamora back.

But Thor... Thor was still alone.

Yes, he had the Avengers, but he would eventually outlive most of them, and he would truly be alone then. He found himself hoping that maybe Loki would return, but his brother had cheated death too many times to still be alive now.

So, Thor Odinson moved on. He grew closer to his fellow heroes. He met all the new ones that his friends had acquired when he was on Asgard. He learned more and more about Midgard technology each day. He would laugh and smile and joke with them. But the laughs never lasted quite as long, the smiles weren’t as bright, and the jokes didn’t mean as much as they used to.

He was okay with believing Loki was dead before because he had his father and his best friends and his people to come home to. But now he had none of that. Everything was gone.

The others didn’t ask. They knew his Asgard was destroyed, but they didn’t know how Loki had saved him and had saved his people. They didn’t know he was a hero. It broke Thor’s heart that they didn’t know, but the thought of retelling the story hurt even more.

And so, they remained in ignorance, doing their best to include Thor in their games and team bonding exercises.

“Hey, pointbreak, we’re having a small party tonight, you wanna join us?” Tony had asked him at the dinner table, one arm thrown over Peter’s shoulders.

Thor shrugged, forcing a smile. “Why not? I do enjoy your social activities. They are very lively.”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, I ordered some of that Asgardian mead, so you could get drunk alone with us. We can’t have you sober while the rest of us go crazy.” Then Tony frowned. “Except for Peter. No alcohol for him.”

Perhaps Thor would have teased Tony about his protectiveness if he wasn’t so tired. Tired of existing.

Midgardian time was strange. Some days, time seemed to slow to a near stop, and other days, time would shoot by in the blink of an eye.

Today was the latter, and Thor found himself watching others set up for the party, but not doing much to help himself. He couldn’t bring himself to, and he probably would mess something up anyway. He was surprised when Tony’s son Peter sat next to him on the couch and promptly asked what the problem was.

“From what I heard from Mr. Stark, you used to be the life of the party.”

Thor frowned. “Why do you call your father Mr. Stark?”

Peter blinked. “Um... he’s not my dad?”

Thor deflated. “Oh.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t answer the question.”

Thor shrugged one shoulder. “I used to have something to party for, I suppose.”

“But... we won.”

Thor laughed bitterly. “We won the war, I suppose. But I lost everything.”

“Your people?”

“And my family. My...” Thor clenched his jaw, “brother.”

Thor could practically hear the question before Peter had even asked it. “Wasn’t he evil?”

He sighed. “Loki... was complicated. He had evil intentions at first, but they were motivated by a broken childhood and an infinity stone’s influence. That and Thanos tortured him. What he did... was not okay, but in the end... he was a hero.”

Thor looked over at Peter who seemed to mull over that for a bit. “I’m sorry.”

“It is not your fault. In fact, it was mostly his. What kind of idiot attacks a Titin with a _knife_?” the words were chastising but the single tear trailing down his face and the scattered tone made them less convincing.

_“Yes, it was a bit stupid of me.”_

Thor slammed his eyes shut. Why could he get his brothers voice _out of his head?!_

The yelling of others and the whirring sound of Tony and Rhodey’s suits broke Thor from his thoughts. His eyes shot open, and he saw his teammates forming a defensive stance, aiming their weapons behind him.

 _An intruder,_ Thor thought, grabbing his axe that he’d left leaning against the couch, and turning, lightning wreathing his head like a halo.

He froze, entertaining the thought for a moment that he was hallucinating, but then remembered the others standing behind him.

That smirk. That stupid little smirk that always got him into trouble.

Tony’s voice came from behind him. “Stand down, prince-”

But Thor’s roar interrupted him. His axe dropped from his grasp with a thunk and Thor had cleared the couch before he’d even realized what his body was doing.

And Thor tackled his brother.

“You insufferable _idiot_ , I can’t believe you-” a sob cut him off and Loki huffed a laugh before tentatively reaching around and hugging him back.

“I know, I know, you hate me,” he muttered.

“No, no you annoying god of mischief, I missed you... so much.”

Loki didn’t seem able to respond to that, and Thor pulled away, knuckles sparking in agitation. “I swear on our mother’s grave if you ever pull something like that again, I will personally deliver you to Hela herself to do as she sees fit.”

Loki swallowed. “I missed you too.”

Thor shook his head. “Then why-?”

He growled. “I couldn’t let Thanos think I was alive. If he had known that, it would make you more of a target.”

“But why didn’t you come back for two _months_?!” Thor asked, gripping his brother's shoulders tighter as if making sure he was still solid. Still alive.

“Hold up, what is going on here? Why are we suddenly all buddy-buddy with him?” Tony asked, lowering his blazing gauntlet, but leaving on the suit.

“Yeah, shouldn’t we be a bit slower to forgiving him for blowing up New York?” Rhodey asked, pointedly not lowering his gauntlet.

Thor turned, one hand still on Loki’s shoulder. “We cannot blame my brother for something that Thanos orchestrated. He saved my people from destruction and I will not allow you to imprison him.”

“I was thinking more on the killing side, but whatever. How can we know he’s not... you know using his mind powers on you?” Clint asked, raising an eyebrow at Thor.

Thor huffed a laugh. “He would need an infinity stone to use mind powers. Those were never his.”

“I beg your pardon?!” Loki protested, swatting Thor’s hand away.

“Like that time you tried to get me to eat a severed human toe. That worked out for you.”

Loki huffed. “It almost worked.”

“I was humoring you.”

“You were not. If you’d been humoring me, you wouldn’t have tattled to mother.”

Thor threw his arms in the air. “The only reason I told her was because you told me you’d cut off Heimdall’s toe!”

Loki smirked. “I can’t believe you fell for that.”

“How was I supposed to know?! I was only six!”

“Excuse me, but can we get back to the subject at hand?” Natasha interjected, waving her gun between the two of them.

“Guys, listen. As much as I used to hate Loki, when I was on Asgard with them I came to realize that he wasn’t as evil as I’d initially thought,” Bruce said, pointedly looking at Thor. “There’s my two cents.”

“If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have shown up as myself. That would be stupid,” Loki said sneering.

“As stupid as attacking Thanos with a knife,” Thor agreed, nodding sarcastically.

Loki growled. “I _told_ you. It was so he would think I was dead.”

“That’s not as dumb as Steve here attacking with his bare hands,” Bucky muttered, jabbing Steve in the side with his elbow.

Steve sighed. “Alright, let's just agree to let Loki not die and if he does anything concerning we’ll deal with it then.”

The other Avengers grumbled their agreement.

Clint sneered. “Fine. But don’t force me to like it.”

“I offer my deep condolences for making you do my bidding. I understand what that’s like because I too was being controlled,” Loki said, following Thor around the couch and sitting next to him.

“Wait, what?” Tony asked.

“Yes, by Thanos. I thought this was common knowledge.”

“Eh, no? It wasn’t? It kind of sounds like you’re making that up to get out of trouble.” Rhodey said, and Clint nodded.

“Actually, Thor did tell me that Loki was being controlled by the mind stone,” Peter interjected.

“And why would Thor tell _you_ that?” Clint snapped.

“Uh, cause I asked?” Peter cocked his head as if this were obvious.

The other’s fell silent.

“Did none of you think to ask my brother why he was wallowing in misery except for this Midgardian child? Pathetic.”

Peter sputtered in protest, but Thor raised an eyebrow. “And what, dear brother, did you do to help?”

Loki threw his hands into the air. “Um, I don’t know, got an entire alien race to subject themselves to me in order that earth could have its own intergalactic army?”

“...wait, what?” Tony asked, finally disassembling his suit.

“I charmed their planet’s leaders while I was in hiding, and once I told them of our predicament, they pledged their army to my cause. At that point, you’d already defeated Thanos, but I figured when another threat shows up, an army would be nice.”

“Um, yes?! That’s freaking awesome!” Peter exclaimed, jumping up.

Loki shrugged. “So, you can kill me if you like. To be honest I probably wouldn’t mind much. My life is meaningless anyway.”

Everyone fell silent, their weapons completely lowering.

Sam spoke up. “Dude are you oka-”

But Peter, a gen Z kid, interrupted. “Wow, someone finally understands me on a spiritual level.”

Tony tripped over air and stumbled. “Peter, _what_ -?!”

But Thor ignored everyone and turned to his brother. “Welcome home.”

And Loki smiled.


End file.
